Press Release: "Pavel Šmok – Choreographer with the Soul of a Poet" – Launch of a New Biography of One of the Most Important Czech Dance Creators of the 20th Century

On Wednesday, May 31, at 5 p.m., a special afternoon dedicated to Pavel Šmok will take place in the small hall of the Municipal Library on Mariánské náměstí. The program will include a screening of the documentary portrait “The Šmok Phenomenon” (2017) directed by Ondřej Kepka, followed by the launch of the publication “Pavel Šmok – Choreographer with the Soul of a Poet” by dance journalist Lucie Kocourková (2023). The new publication on Pavel Šmok provides a comprehensive overview of his choreographic work. The key elements are his most famous and significant choreographies and the transformations of his style and approach to the art of dance.

“After almost a year of work, we have managed to compile and publish a complete biography of choreographer Pavel Šmok, which aims to take readers through the different periods of his creative life,” says Ladislava Dunovská Jandová, director of the Pavel Šmok Institute and Endowment Fund, which focuses on promoting and reviving the legacy of this prominent figure in Czech choreography and in whose editorial series the book is being published. “The author of the publication, Lucie Kocourková, worked with more than 150 Czech and foreign articles and reviews, discovered previously unpublished interviews, and summarized responses to Šmok’s work from the 1950s to his latest creations. The book is accompanied by rich visual material, and I greatly appreciate the fact that its publication was supported by the Czech Literary Fund, the Czech Music Fund, the State Cultural Fund, and a number of individual donors and supporters as part of a campaign on Donio.cz. We would like to thank everyone for their support. Without their contributions, the book could not have been published in the format and quality that we set for ourselves from the beginning of the new edition at Balet Praha Publishing.”

“I decided to map Pavel Šmok’s artistic career from its very beginnings, to find and recall what was characteristic of his work in each period,” says the author of the new book, dance historian and journalist Lucie Kocourková. “There is a different Pavel Šmok who experiments with new forms in the early days of Ballet Prague, a different Pavel Šmok who enjoys the technical possibilities of a large theater in Basel, and a different Pavel Šmok who brings Bedřich Smetana’s music to life for audiences through dance… On the other hand, there are certain characteristics that connect and frame all his work and by which we would always recognize him.”

The biography is based on material that Pavel Šmok himself prepared as a summary of his life and career and which was kindly provided by his son Martin Šmok. The book does not delve too deeply into the personal sphere, but sticks primarily to written sources, interviews, dozens and dozens of articles and reviews, including foreign ones.

“My intention was not only to analyze his work, but also to try to uncover the sources of his multiple talents and the influences that were decisive for his entire artistic direction. That is why I place greater emphasis on the period when he was starting out as a choreographer and his thinking about dance was still taking shape. The book shows Pavel Šmok as a versatile creator who drew on a wealth of knowledge and experience from outside the world of dance, which gave him a unique perspective on directing theatrical dance and a relationship to technology and filmmaking. I believe that even experts will discover new sources and materials in this new publication that will spark their interest. And every dance lover will enjoy following the life of this important figure step by step. “

The new biography of Pavel Šmok will be available for purchase at the event with a personal dedication from the author, as will the previous publication mapping the history of the Ballet Prague ensemble in the 1960s.

Tickets for the “Šmok afternoon” can be purchased at this link: https://bit.ly/Listky_na_krest

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Media contact:

Mgr. Johana Mravcová

tel: +420 605 751 290

e-mail: mravcova@balet-praha.cz